posted by Jennifer on a day in the life of me!, restaurant review

I work at an architecture firm that designs restaurants (www.ariainc.com) so one of the perks I get sometimes is getting to go to a pre-opening tasting/practice before the restaurant actually opens to the public. Today I got to go to a local restaurant in my hometown called HUGTONG.

What does Hutong mean?

A hutong is a neighborhood—a common area filled with uncommon things.
The hutongs of Beijing are filled with hundreds of small, family-owned food stands,
known for quickly preparing delicious food to order.

Hutong Café is bringing all of these unique flavors to Oak Park, using family recipes that have remained unchanged for hundreds of years. All our dishes are made right in front of you, using only the freshest ingredients.

I am not an architect or interior designer, but I got to see first hand the process of an idea from owner Bob Johnson and co-workers from my office work hard on all the many many decisions it takes to make a restaurant. It turned out AMAZING

And the light fixtures are gorgeous!

In the end I tried the egg rolls – great flavor and very light. I also had the noodles and green beans with carrots, onions and red pepper.

And these are some of the things my friends tried:

All in all it was a great experience. I loved being able to check out the place before it was open to the public. Out of 8 of us who dined there during lunch, we all enjoyed the food we ordered – I am definitely going back – and Biz the next time you come to visit me we are totally going there!

Hutong is located in Oak Park, IL at 1113 W. Lake Street.

The food came out super fast, so definitely enough time to pop in for lunch or dinner OR they do take out too! So if you are in the area – please come check it out – you won’t be disappointed!

LIKE them on FACEBOOK HERE

I kind of felt like Sophia today, since she gets to check out so many awesome restaurants in LA!

Tags: quick casual Asian restaurant